Penn State alums who stood out in Week Three of NFL Preseason

Here are the former Penn State players who made waves in the final week of the NFL Preseason. Players must be on the field for at least 20 offensive or defensive snaps to qualify for this list (some exceptions apply). Stats are via PFF.

Penn State Offensive Players

Rasheed Walker

Seventh-round pick and former Penn State starting left tackle Rasheed Walker finally made it back to the football field after an injury hiatus since November last season. Walker was solid in pass protection for the Packers, shutting out the Kansas City Chiefs rushers he faced. Not only did he have a pressure-free game, but he did so with 18 true-pass sets. Unfortunately, that level of consistency was absent from his profile during his final year at Penn State. Will it be enough to keep him on the squad after only playing one preseason game?

If not, he is a practice squad candidate for the team this season.

KJ Hamler

Speaking of players returning from injury, KJ Hamler made his preseason debut for the Denver Broncos after his last ACL injury last season. The Penn State speedster has some rust to break off, but he caught three passes for 19 yards in the Broncos 23-13 win over the Vikings.

The normally dangerous deep threat only managed 6.3 yards per reception in his return to the field. Despite the slow start, Hamler has the chance for a big season with former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson joining the team this offseason.

Trace McSorley

It was a quiet day for Trace McSorley who didn’t do anything flashy in the Cardinals’ 26-23 loss to the Titans in the final week of the preseason. The former Penn State standout was 15-29 with a throwaway and was hit while throwing once. His adjusted completion percentage of 60.0% is about 10% below a typical standard threshold for the stat. Despite a few quality throws, it wasn’t a day worth writing home about.

Will Fries

It was a down week for the Penn State offensive players, and Will Fries was no exception. He’d been the Nittany Lions’ most reliable producer this preseason but fell victim to a limited sample size in pass protection. Fries only saw 17 passing snaps and gave up a pressure on one of only five true passing situations. Also, he struggled to provide tangible positives as a run blocker again this week.

Penn State players in the preseason

Week One

Week Two

It was a Penn State offensive line party for the Packers this weekend. Michal Menet saw his most significant action of the preseason and operated the center of the line with Walker at left tackle. Menet had a clean game as a pass blocker and was a positive run-blocker, according to PFF grading. Like Walker, Menet needed a solid final game to prove to the Packers he’s worth keeping as an interior lineman with limited versatility.

Penn State defenders

Brandon Smith

Any season, preseason or otherwise, wouldn’t be complete without the traditional “Brandon Smith misses tackles game.” So bad Smith showed up for Carolina in a game where the former Penn State defender missed three tackles on 27 total snaps.

Smith hasn’t gotten any less polarizing in the NFL. Some will only see the sound plays for the 6-4, 250-pound linebacker with pterodactyl-like arms and speed to spare. After all, Smith finished with a top ten coverage grade among linebackers with at least 50 snaps.

And yet you can’t ignore the fact that he’s missed just under 29% of his tackle attempts on 102 snaps. You could chalk it up to a few bad games, but Smith has a reputation for missing tackles last season at Penn State. There’s plenty of time for him to develop, considering he played only one full season for the Nittany Lions. But it’s a troubling trend for the uber-talented linebacker.

Tariq Castro-Fields

Things are looking good for Tariq Castro-Fields in the Bay Area. He struggled in run defense again this week and chipped in a missed tackle too. He was fine in coverage but had some mental lapses that marred his performance. The good news is that he’s been good on special teams with quality coverage on kick and punt teams.

Grant Haley

Grant Haley was back in the slot for the Rams against the Cincinnatti Bengals and provided quality coverage. He was frequently targeted, with six receptions on six targets underneath coverage. Despite that, he only gave up 36 yards and chipped in two defensive stops.

Haley won’t play for the Rams in the regular season, but he’s a quality depth player that brings good fundamentals and special teams coverage ability. Hopefully, that’s enough to keep him on the defending Super Bowl champs with cutdown day looming.

Still to come

Jesse Luketa
Arnold Ebiketie
Derrick Tangelo